1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to services for mobile communication terminals, and more particularly to a method and system for providing data services to mobile communication terminal subscribers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent trend is that subscribers of mobile communication terminals, such as a mobile phone and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) having a communication module, increasingly use an integrated voice and data service rather than a voice service alone. Accordingly, data services carrying various content or message transmission/reception services are currently provided to mobile communication terminals through a mobile communication network.
Mobile communication carriers, which provide mobile communication services through a PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network), give differential services in terms of fees, etc., to a specific zone such as a college town crowded with students, in consideration of the characteristics of mobile terminal subscribers visiting the zone, in an attempt to secure new customers or improve income.
A private mobile network established in an indoor place such as a specific building or business place, or an outdoor limited zone, allows registered mobile communication terminals to receive mobile communication services or use them between each other in the range of the private mobile network without going through the PLMN. That is, in such a private mobile network, the registered terminals can perform mobile communication between each other without going through the PLMN.
The private mobile network also interworks with the PLMN, so that a mobile communication terminal can receive mobile communication services through the PLMN as well as through the private mobile network. One example of such a private mobile network can be seen in Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-0107028 entitled “System and Method for Providing Mobile Communication Services for Public and Private Uses,” which was filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on May 24, 2000 by this Applicant, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and laid open on Dec. 7, 2001.
The private mobile network or a mobile communication network for providing differential mobile communication services to mobile communication terminals in a specific zone is a kind of wireless network used in a limited zone and thus can be regarded as a precinct wireless network. If specific data services, according to the characteristics of a zone where such a precinct wireless network is installed, are provided free or at a fixed rate to the mobile communication terminal subscribers, it will not only provide convenience to the subscribers but also be very effective in securing new customers or improving income. It can be considered to provide an instant messenger service generally called a “messenger service,” as an example of such a specific data service, so that the subscribers can use the service between each other in the service range of the precinct wireless network.
In the meantime, a brief description will now be given of the processes performed by the precinct wireless network in order to allow the subscribers to receive the data service through the network.
When a mobile terminal subscriber located in the precinct wireless network executes an application program for data services, employed in his or her mobile communication terminal, the program executes a network connection program according to a predetermined communication environment. The execution of the network connection program enables the terminal to make a connection to the precinct wireless network and secure a data channel of the network. The terminal interworks with a data service server by communication through the data channel of the precinct wireless network so as to provide a data service to the subscriber. The data service server is a server for providing data services that mobile communication terminal subscribers may use.
Generally, as desired, the subscriber performs the data service function employed in the mobile communication terminal, as described above, so as to use the data service. However, if the subscriber wants to use a data service, differentially provided according to the characteristics of a zone where a specific precinct wireless network is operating, the subscriber himself or herself must not only check whether his or her terminal has entered the zone, but must also execute the application program for data services even after having entered the zone. Similarly, when the terminal exits the precinct wireless network zone, the subscriber must inconveniently terminate the application program.
In the meantime, once a network application program employed in a mobile communication terminal for use in a mobile communication network or a private mobile network is executed, it maintains the network connection even when the application program for data services is not in operation. The network connection maintenance leads to an unnecessary load on communication network resources that must be shared with other users. This reduces the system efficiency to bring about the needed increase in system capacity.